Multiple section shutting structure



A ril 16, 1968 R. oomcm: ET AL 3,373,060

MULTIPLE SECTION SHUTTING STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 18, 1965 I N VEN TOR. mwl

Meier 93W:

United States Patent 3,378,060 MULTIPLE SECTION SHUTTING STRUCTURE Renzo Oddicini, Via Piana 17, Omegna, and Pietro Nieder, Viale Vigliani 21, Milan, Italy Filed Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 496,797 Claims priority, application Italy, Oct. 8, 1965, 9,893/65, Patent 757,747 4 Claims. (Cl. 160-481) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a door or window structure comprising a number of vertical partially overlapped panels hinged with each other at the overlapped portions thereof. One endwise panel is hinged to the jarnb member of the door or window and the opposite endwise panel engages in a resilient manner, in the closed position of the door or window, with a resilient member provided on the opposite jamb of the door or window or on the lintel, in such a manner as to resiliently or yieldabiy lock the panels of the door or window in the closed position thereof, allowing at the same time an easy opening there of. The hinge means of the panel members are provided with a fork-like hinging member, which has convex shaped surface portions adapted to mate intimately with complemental concave shaped surface portions provided in the seats where the fork members is received.

The present invention relates to shutting structures or partitions consisting of a number of articulated vertical section or panels, particularly adapted for use as doors or windows for openings in general.

It is known that in the house building industry shutting structures are required, which take up in the opening and closing movements thereof the smallest possible space, and which utilize the available floor area in the most rational manner.

It is the main object of this invention to attain the above mentioned results which have long been aimed at but never satisfactorily reached in the field of hinged doors and the like, by providing a shutting structure consistin of a number of articulated sections of particular efficiency and assembled in such a manner as to allow the overall dimensions thereof to involve the smallest possible floor area necessary for a swing of the hinged shutting structure.

It is another object of this invention to provide a shutting structure adapted to fully attain the foregoing object through a structure adapted to perform a combined motion consisting of reltaive opposite rotations of said articulated sections with respect to one another and a horizontal translatory motion with respect to a portion of at least one of the said sections.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a structure in which the connection of the movable part 'with the stationary part of the structure adapted to retain the latter in the closing position is automatically accomplisbed by a snap engagement between a vertical end portion of the movable part and the said stationary part.

These and still other objects which will appear hereinafter are all attained by the shutting structure according to this invention, consisting of articulated multiple vertical sections, which is characterized in that said sections articulated connections providing vertical articulations thereof which are arranged in an offset position, so that, when the sections are arranged in closing position their mutual axis of articulation lies outside the plane passing through the axis of articulation of the shutting structure to the stationary part of the frame and the mean contact point of the shutting structure against the closing rabbet of the stationary frame thereby to obtain a snap type closing pressure of the shutting frame. The successive articulated sections are suitably arranged parallel each other in a preferably partially overlapped position and with the corresponding axis of articulation lying in the mean plane of that vertical section which is subsequent to the preceding vertical section, in the direction from the axis of articulation of the shutting structure on the stationary frame towards the opposite side of said stationary frame against which the shutting structure is closed.

Furthermore, the end section designed to accomplish the closing against the rabbet of or the corresponding jamb of the stationary frame is provided slidably guided at least in a point near one horizontal end thereof along the horizontal side or sides delimiting the frame, whilst essentially resilient mutually engaging means are provided between said vertical end section and closing rabbet.

Further features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred non-limiting embodiment of the shutting structure according to the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. I shows the shutting structure in front elevation;

FIG. 2 shows a lateral view of said shutting structure partially in setion;

FIG. 3 shows, in an enlarged scale, a perspective view of the details regarding the articulation between the panels with a number of hinges represented in exploded view; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a horizontal cross-section of the same shutting structure with the parts in closing and opening positions, respectively, and FIG. 4a is a modification of the stop member for the shutting structure.

Referring now to the drawing from FIGS. 4, 5 the opening and closing of the door 1 cooperating with the jambs 24a may be seen.

Said jambs 2-2a have each a rabbet 3-3a respectively.

The shutting structure is formed of two sections or panels 4 and 5, arranged parallel to one another in a partially overlapped manner, and are connected hingedly together adapted to revolve around a vertical axis 6 lying in the plane of section 5.

The end portion of the section 4 remote from the section 5, when said sections are in the closing position of the opening or door 1 (vide FIG. 5), is articulated so as to be able to rotate around a vertical axis 7 provided in the recess defined by the rabbet 3 of the jamb 2.

The end portion of the section 5 may be received in the recess provided by the rabbet 3a.

At one intermediate point of its upper end or upper horizontal side the said section is provided with a pin 8 slidably engaged in the guide provided in the lintel (see FIGS. 12) whilst on the vertical edge of the section 5 resilient means in the form of a pad 1! of elastic rubber are provided. In accordance with a modification of the invention, the section 5 is provided at its upper end portion with a L-iron stop member 5' which, when the door is in its closed position, engages a resilient member 10' indicated with dotted lines projecting downward from the lintel. Said resilient member 10 is utilized as a substitute for the resilient pad 10 with the purpose to allow assembling of the shutting structure to be carried out Referring now to FIG. 3, the articulated connection between the sections 4- and 5 is constituted of a pluarlity of seats 11, obtained preferably by drilling bores into the edge of the panel bores, having a diameter greater than the thickness ofthe panel. In such seats 11 there are arranged corresponding fork members 12 provided with anchoring pin-like means 13 which are driven into the holes 14 provided in the bottoms of the seats 11. The fork members 12 have tine portions with convex outside surfaces and the seats 11 have opposite concave surfaces complemental with the convex surfaces of the fork member and adapted to intimately mate therewith. The fork 12 is adapted to receive, slidable between the tines thereof, an articulation piece or member 17, provided with central bore 18, coaxial, in the assembled position of the hinge assembly, with the through-holes 16 provided in the tines of the fork 12. The holes 16 and 18 are adapted to receive a pivot pin allowing relative rotation of the articulation member 17 with respect to the fork 12. The articulation member 17 is fixed on the contiguous panel 4 through a screw 19 (FIGS. 4 and 5) provided with a boss-like head 20.

The connection of the section 4 to the jamb 2 is provided by a hinge of a type similar to that described above and shown in the drawing in relation to the axis 6. From the illustrated structure it may be observed that the axis 6 lies outside the plane P passing through the axis 7 and the mean contact point of the section 5 with the rabbet 3a. In this manner, owing also to the resilient pads 10 (or 10 according to the construction modification illustrated formerly) a static moment is provoked'by the reaction forces, which has the tendency to rotate the panel 5 in counter-clockwise direction when viewing FIG. 4 and thereby a snap type locking action of the shutting screen is obtained.

When passing from the open to the closed door position, the axis of articulation 6 passes from one position to the other along the aforesaid plane P and in its closed door end position causes a reaction to the closing action, section 5, also by virtue of its upper sliding connection 8, be pressed against the resilient means 10 or 10' of the rabbet 3a thus accomplishing the snap closing.

It is to be noted that when passing from the closed to the open door position as schematically illustrated in FIG. 5 the section 5 preforms a revolving motion as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 5. g

It will be understood that, the above embodiments are given only by way of example, and several changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as described above and defined in the appended claims. So, for example, the cross dimension of the section 5 may be increased to the effect that it may project beyond the sliding point 8 a distance even larger than the distance between the sliding point 8 and the axis of articulation 6 i.e. the pin 8 may be arranged nearer to the axis 6.

What is claimed is:

1. A shutting structure for a wall opening the periphery of which is defined by a stationary frame providing jamb members at opposite sides thereof, the structure comprising at least two partially overlapped panel members having hinge means hinging the said panels to one another at the overlapped portions thereof to revolve about respective axes of said hinge means substantially parallel to said jamb members, one edge of said panel members being hinged on one of said jamb members, the jamb member opposite thereto having resilient stop means for engaging with the other edge of said panel members to resiliently lock said panel members in the closed position thereof and wherein according to the improvement said hinge means comprise each a fork member (12) having tine portions with coaxial articulation formations defining the hinge axis of the hinge means, each tine portion having a convex outside surface transverse to said hinge axis and a fiat inside surface opposite to the outside surface and perpendicular to said hinge axis and facing the flat inside surface of the other tine portion, a seat (11) for each of said fork members provided in an edge portion of the relevant panel member, said seat having facing concave surfaces extending transverse to said hinge axis and facing one another, said concave surfaces being complemental with said convex surfaces and spaced from one another to allow said convex surfaces to intimately mate with said concave surfaces when said fork member is received within said seat, an articulation, member (17) having a thickness corresponding to the distance between said tine portions of the fork member and hinged between said tine portions of said fork member to revolve about said hinge axis, means for securing said articulation member to a contiguous member and means for securing said fork member within said seat.

2. A shutter structure according to claim 1, wherein the jamb member on which the hinge means are secured has a vertical surface perpendicular to said wall opening and a step like recess provided in said surface, and wherein said hinge means are secured at said recess in an intermediate point thereof.

3. A structure according to claim 1, wherein said fork member has a pin like portion with anchoring means adapted to be driven into the bottom wall of said seat.

4. A structure according to claim 1, wherein said tine portions and said articulation member have each mutually coaxial through-holes and a pin member slidably inserted into said through-holes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 270,363 1/1883 Andersen l60218 X 2,878,531 3/1959 Benham 49386 2,943,675 7/1960 Ford l60206 2,982,353 5/1961 Luger -183 3,066,730 12/ 1962 Schwartzberg l60206 3,219,101 1/ 1965 Prehn 160-206 X 3,275,064 9/1966 Hansen 160--206 X 3,277,951 10/1966 Levicke 160--206 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, HARRISON R. MOSELEY,

Examiners. 

